by Jens Soering
Copyright 1995
The autobiography of a young man imprisoned for a double- murder he did not commit.
As featured on TV's "Larry King Live," "Geraldo Rivera," "Inside Edition," and "Hard Copy."
In "Mortal Thoughts" Jens Soering, a college honors student and the son of a German diplomat, tells how his older girlfriend, Elizabeth Roxanne Haysom, embroiled him in killing her high society parents in a small Virginia town. After fleeing the U.S. and travelling around the world committing check frauds, the young couple was eventually arrested in London, England, and returned to Virginia separately for two sensational televised trials. While Elizabeth pleaded guilty as an accessory before the fact, Jens protested his innocence and testified that he only covered up his girlfriend's crime to protect her from the electric chair. The jury found him guilty of double-murder based on disputed a bloody sock print at the crime scene, but forensic evidence uncovered after the trial proves that this sock print and a bloody shoe print were more likely to have been made by Elizabeth than by Jens.
As an autobiography "Mortal Thoughts" is, of course, primarily a personal account of Jens's experiences. Those readers interested only in a factual, detailed presentation of the trial evidence and a blow-by-blow description of the witness's testimony should turn to Chapter 11. Chapter 12 contains the scientific and other evidence, discovered later, which indicates that Jens was convicted of a crime he did not commit.
Every effort has been made to include accurately and completely all the evidence presented in court and on appeal -- both by the prosecution and the defence. To guarantee veracity the text contains dozens of footnotes referring the reader to specific documents, trial exhibits, court records, and transcripts, which are all available to members of the public at Bedford County Courthouse. Numerous documents are also quoted directly: letters between Jens and Elizabeth, a psychiatrist's report, interrogation transcripts, so-called "confessions," etc. However, the names of all persons not officially involved in this case have been changed in the interests of privacy.
Additional documents, such as Jens's petition for writ of habeas corpus, the prosecution's response, and court rulings, will be added to this Webpage as they become available.